Spotty record in other places?

I think it’s fairly obvious by now that you are somewhat reluctant to print anything negative about MV Transportation or Go Bus.

Nevertheless, I would like people to know that Wheelway had proven itself over a 15-year period to be quite capable of providing paratransit service in the St. John’s area, even though the clientele had tripled over that time period.

Wheelway always rose to the challenge and a study of the system conducted a couple of years ago confirmed that, when it stated Wheelway had exceeded its contracted obligations.

Still, the City of St. John’s felt compelled to award the paratransit contract to a foreign company, which in my opinion has a questionable track record.

Francis Moeller, an ADA adviser to the state of California, who dealt with MV Transportation after complaints arose over its service for the Santa Rosa transit system in 2003 says, “We have had unbelieveable battles with these people, they treat the disabled like cattle.”

Wendy Klancher, a transportation planner at the federally designated planning agency for the D.C. metro area, has heard similar stories and said, “Their modus operandi is to be the low-bid contractor and outbid other competitors and then actually end up getting more money because it turns out they can’t operate within the bid.”

In Washington, D.C., Metroaccess ended up spending over $6 million on top of MV’s original $204-million contract to help them maintain the standard of service, according to Klancher and published reports.

Complaints included the same litany of stranded riders, long trips and inconsiderate behaviour, she said.

In the spring of 2006, an independent audit of the company’s service in D.C found that MV overstated its on-time performance and undercounted the number of times riders were left stranded, according to news reports.

A review of news reports and lawsuits in other jurisdictions, as well as interviews with paratransit riders and advocates, suggest that along the way to becoming America’s largest provider of paratransit services, MV Transportation has not always put passengers first.

Comments

Comments

Your name*Email*Comment*

Recent comments

Ashamed of council

September 21, 2012 - 15:46

While the previous para transit operator has been slammed on occasion by our own,it now seems that the "safer" and more experienced operator who have had 22 accidents in less than a year of operation, are now are operating at capacity!There have been clients told that they cannot get transportation booked with the provider as they are now operating at capacity,but yet they have half their fleet parked at their premises on several occasions.Shame on the council for playing a part in hampering the transportation of our handi capped population.My mother who is elderly was asked by a bus driver to look out the window to guide him back while on the bus,another ccassion,the driver forgot to put up the ramp and tried to move the bus ahead,luckily there is a safety feature in place that didn't allow this..City Hall has received numerous complaints,their biggest responsibility seems to be the key player in covering up the accidents and barage of complaints.Shame on the council....

I must say I agree with Mr. Goodland 100%. I know people who travel with this bus company and can never get any satisfaction. They can never get a bus when they call even if it is a week away, and calling there is unbelievable because you can never get through you could be on the phone for hours trying. Also you could be waiting for the bus and they don't show up for you at all, not even a phone call to let you know why. There are many other stories that I have heard of. I was wondering why you don't here of any of these complaints in the media, and like I said I have heard of many. So I believe that somehow all the complaints and the numerous accidents (witch was many) is somehow being hid from the public. So why is this I think that the public has the right to know exactly what is going on with this so called wonderful bus company that the city of St. John's had awarded the contract to them and not to a company here. (Unreal)

HBG

Expert Bloggers

Quick question - 03/31/2015

A Corner Brook woman was upset recently when she had her seal skin purse confiscated by customs officials when entering the United States — she was unaware of a U.S. ban on seal product entering that country. Are you aware of the ban?